


I Won't Give up on You

by sableyes



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, byleth is a student, byleth is stubborn and dimitri suffers, claude's a little shit, she's in the golden deer house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-02 11:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20730170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sableyes/pseuds/sableyes
Summary: [Status: Hiatus due to University workload]The goddess blessed Fodlan with a method for finding your other half; when you draw or write on your skin, it also marks your soulmate. Some people are excited to find their soulmate, and some are completely resistant. Blyeth is one of these people, never having let ink touch her skin. She never could have predicted that by doing nothing, she was doing a lot more damage...





	1. Chapter 1

_The goddess of Fodlan was a generous woman. When Sothis still wandered the plains of her blessed country, she admired, more than anything, the love between her people that came in all different forms. And she dreaded more than anything when two destined souls never found each other; an unfortunate circumstance that was uncommon but not unseen. So to prevent souls from not encountering one another, she created an unstoppable method to counter this. When one draws on their skin, it appears on their soulmate as well. The mark eventually fades until a new one is made._

“Isn’t that just so… _passionate_ of the goddess?” Ignatz exclaims, his history book gripped in his hands. “It’s been written that she came upon this idea because she saw Saint Cichol himself drawing on his wife’s hand. She thought a form of love like that should be shared across the country!”

“Well, anyone who’s your soulmate is really lucky, Ignatz,” Anette says, a bright smile on her face. “Your art skills are amazing!”

Byleth sets her pile of books down by a nearby desk and watches idly as the two study partners ramble on about their history book chapter. She’s not unfamiliar with this concept herself. Even now, she looks down at the palm of her hand and sees eloquent writing that she occasionally notices on her. _Chapter 5 read by the 5th_, it reads. A good reminder for her too. Though, sitting at the table beside Ignatz and Annette, she’s not too sure she’ll need to read it herself. She puts her gloves back on.

Keeping up with schoolwork has been fairly easy, partly because she’s had so much experience on the battlefield herself, and partly because she wants to please her father. The only bothersome part of this experience is that the writing on her body has grown to be more common. Whoever it is, they’re clearly in the Officer’s Academy too, and have some sort of hobby with writing every little reminder on them. Still, she tries not to look or pay it any mind if she can. She’s lucky, actually, that her soulmate isn’t someone like Ignatz, who is currently drawing something extravagant on his forearm at Annette’s request. And, at least, she can always wear gloves, though this peaks some’s curiosity…

“Mind if I sit?”

Claude. Byleth looks up and is met with his sly grin. She nods, and with no hesitation, he pulls out the seat across from her and plops down with a nonchalant attitude that he carries with him everywhere. He’s never had anything written on him, it seems, which is part of the reason he pesters her. Not that she minds. He’s actually great company.

“Chapter 5 due, huh?” he asks. She tries to peek at his hand but sees he’s wearing his gloves today too, so she nods again and tries to turn her gaze to her still unopened books.

“You know, if you’re bored already, you could always doodle a little,” he says, leaning in. “It’s what everyone does instead of doing homework or paying attention in class.”

“Oh, stop,” she warns him. “Plenty of people don’t draw on themselves. I’m not the only one. And it’s not exactly like you leave yourself open for information.”

“True. I won’t show you my writing or my hands either,” Claude says, “But I think it’s a shame. The goddess, or whoever, wanted to help us out with this… Probably didn’t plan that so many humans are as stubborn as us. I get it though. Who has the time for all this soulmate nonsense when there are more important things? Like… reading about it for class tomorrow.”

She grins a little and it seems to satisfy him. “Speaking of – do you really think we need to know this stuff?” she asks, frowning. “I mean, it’s common knowledge.”

“Yeah, sure. But there’s more in this chapter,” Claude says, pulling the history textbook away from her, and opening it to its rightful page. There’s no way for her to avoid this homework now.

* * *

Dimitri rests the training sword back in its place and takes a look at his hand. Although sweat seems to have rubbed it off a little, he is reminded of his homework for the next day nonetheless. Dedue, at his side, takes a gander as well.

“Your Highness,” Dedue inquires, “Will you be going back to your quarters now?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Dimitri sighs, looking up at his companion. “Feel free to continue training today, Dedue. I’d better get this work out of the way now.”

Just then, a mark of a somewhat sloppy flower slowly etches itself onto Dedue’s thumb with the faint appearance of black ink, the delicate and frail drawing somewhat unfitting for his large hand. His cheeks turn red, and he looks up at Dimitri with an unsure expression. Even though Dimitri has never been drawn on, he tells everyone it’s better that way. He’s busy, and shouldn’t be focusing on things like that.

“Your soulmate rarely draws, Dedue! This is marvelous,” Dimitri says with a smile, trying to hide his own feelings towards how often he gets opportunities like this for himself. Dedue knows it gets to him. But he’s kind enough to not mention it.

“Yes, I suppose… I’m… still getting used to this. We had no such thing in Duscur. But don’t let me keep you, Your Highness,” Dedue says with his usual bow.

Dimitri, back in his room, finds himself losing thought during his reading. He’s unlike those who keep their body, especially their hands, concealed. He openly welcomes the idea of finding his soulmate. And yet, even the most ungrateful get marks. Even someone from outside of Fodlan gets marks. Even his soulmate… gets the marks he gives them. If he even has one. Looking down at his hand, he mutters quietly to himself, “Maybe it’s time I got an agenda.”

“Oh, stop being so dramatic, you wretched boar,” a voice from his door turns Dimitri’s attention away from his thoughts.

“Felix,” he blinks in surprise, “it’s not often I get a visit from you—”

“Shut it. I just –” Felix sighs and peeks down the hallway. “I’m trying to stay away from… never mind. Your incessant sighing is keeping me distracted.”

“So you… came to my room?” Dimitri questioned, knowing the true nature of Felix’s worries. Felix realized weeks ago who his soulmate is. Dimitri himself doesn’t know, but he certainly has a guess by the way he’s been avoiding a certain individual. He thinks Felix is ungrateful. Felix thinks he’s a “_stupid beast who should mind his business and eat shit with the rest of the pigs”_. Yet, at times, Felix still invites him to train, or wanders to his room like this… What a difficult boy.

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t have any reason to be moping around as it is,” Felix scoffs and turns away. “It’s not worth spending any time or thought on.”

“… Sylvain still doesn’t know—”

“Shut your mouth before you say something you regret. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Felix retorts. “Forget this. Seeing your beastly face is making me sick. I’ll hide somewhere else.”

With that, Felix leaves and closes the door behind him, leaving Dimitri alone with his thoughts again. He can’t help but think how lucky Felix really is, no matter how unaware of it he might be. Closing his eyes, he tries to refuse to indulge in his darker thoughts. One day, Felix will understand. And one day, Dimitri will know who’s been seeing his drawings all this while, and he can ask them why they never respond.

He looks down at his bare arm and dips his quill into ink.

* * *

Byleth is almost sleeping when she feels the familiar feeling of a mark being etched into her skin. Her forearm, this time. Everyone says theirs feels different depending on their soulmate. For some, it tickles; for some, they barely feel it; and for some... it hurts. Pain is not something that particularly bothers Byleth, but she can't help but notice when her skin starts to mark. The best way she can describe it is like small, playful, kitten scratches. Not intentionally meant to hurt her, but as if whoever's at the other end can't help the pressure they use. She'll admit, that for this reason, she's always been somewhat curious of the one who marks her.

In her nightclothes, this skin is bare, so she peeks and sees the mark from her palm is gone. Straining her eyes to see in the dark with only moonlight as her guide, she watches as the mark slowly feathers into her skin.

Her heart, for the first time ever, skips a beat. In fact, she thinks, this is the first time she's ever noticed it beat at all.

_I won’t give up on you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll update when I can!! I have a lot of ideas still. Also I'm sorry if this is rough. I did edit but I might go back into it later and edit again. I really love the idea of this AU, but I've never written for it before! I hope I do it some justice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weeks passed. Now months. But they haven’t written to her again. She hasn’t really been thinking about it either since it’s Blue Sea Moon. Claude’s birthday is fast approaching, and the Rite of Rebirth is set to follow.

The mark eventually fades from her skin, and before she can realize it, she's being covered again in homework reminders and acronyms she can’t even try to understand. Weeks passed. Now months. But they haven’t written to her again. She hasn’t really been thinking about it either since it’s Blue Sea Moon. Claude’s birthday is fast approaching, and the Rite of Rebirth is set to follow.

The golden deer class is bustling with noise as they all try to come together with a plan while Claude’s out of the room. Byleth sits at the spot she usually sits at in class, and watches everyone bounce ideas off of each other, occasionally contributing when she can, but so far, they’ve only agreed on one thing (and that was decided on at the last meeting): a surprise party. It was the easiest decision, considering it’s _Claude_. But the details, needless to say, still need some ironing out.

“So, Leonie can be on cake duty?” Hilda asks to confirm after about 20 minutes trying to decide who would be doing that role; the first one they’re handing out. Her eyes dart around their blank chart on the blackboard, trying to configure how all the other roles will be distributed. Leonie nods and gets up to write her name under _cake_ which is written in Hilda’s fancy lettering. “I was thinking,” Leonie starts, pointing at the _food_ section, “we could ask the kitchen for help with the cooking? Unless anyone here is—”

“Oh, Marianne!” Hilda exclaims with a wide smile. The blue haired girl seems somewhat surprised to hear her name called but looks at the expecting eyes and bows her head down once again, muttering, “Uh, well, I can cook but… I’m afraid I might just mess it up…”

Byleth, listening to the busy conversation that sparks from this, inspects the blackboard with some sense of concentration. She’s not sure why, but she can easily think of where all these roles should go. She also mentally notes how alike Leonie and Hilda’s handwriting is to them. Leonie’s, while neat, lacks the disciplined practice of Hilda’s, as well as the… femininity.

After more time goes by without much productivity, Byleth decides to chime in. As the tactician on the battlefield, these things seem to come easy for her. She helps along the process by suggesting different roles for everyone; Raphael and Ignatz on guard duty, Hilda and Lysithea on decoration duty, Lorenz helping them set it up, Marianne on food with the help of the kitchen staff, and Leonie on cake duty.

“Okay, we’re actually getting somewhere today thanks to—” Hilda starts before she hears Raphael at the door making some strange bird call which can only mean that Claude is coming back. Leonie, without panic, flips the blackboard to the opposite side used in class that day before Claude enters. Everyone fails at _acting natural_, but at least they’re trying.

When Claude comes in, however, he hardly notices the suspicious behaviour of his classmates. In fact, he looks like he’s in a cloud of intense, deep thoughts. “What’s going on, Claude?” Ignatz asks, everyone else’s eyes on him too, even Lorenz’s. Claude looks like he almost hesitates for a sec before he throws his hands up in defeat, “Oh I’m just thinking – about the enemy’s objective… you know, with the Rite of Rebirth and all.”

“Well, try to relax, fuss ball,” Hilda says encouragingly, “We’re only meant to be security.”

_“Still, there is almost certainly something fishy going on…”_

Byleth’s eyes widen – it never ceases to spook her when Sothis calls out, especially because she’s been quieter lately.

_“Have you noticed that Claude’s been wearing gloves every day for the past few months?”_

Byleth puts a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from audibly questioning her. But Sothis seems to understand her feelings without hearing her response.

_“I’m not particularly interested in the lives of your classmates… I'm just curious about this. Maybe something else has been bothering him... and we wouldn’t want him to be too distracted.”_

The bell rings to announce that free time is over, and everyone slowly makes their way out with idle conversation between them. Claude stays, leaning against the wall by the doors. Byleth spends a moment thinking, then realizes there might be a lot of value to Sothis’s point. She walks over to Claude who doesn’t even notice her until she’s standing right in front of him.

“What’s actually wrong?” she probes him.

He eyes her for a second then smiles like his usual self. “Not convinced with my story, huh?” he asks.

“… A hunch,” Byleth says with a shrug. She can practically (actually, maybe physically) feel Sothis on the edge of her seat. When did that little goddess get so interested in her classmate’s personal lives…

Claude looks down at his gloved hand and eyes Byleth's too. He reaches out for it slowly, as if hesitant, before taking it in his own, feeling the glove underneath his own. “Do you get a lot of questions too?” he asks her with a still expression. His eyes always shine with some sort of insincerity – some sort of barrier. But right now, all guards are down; only a spark lying beneath the green of his eyes. And she thinks this might be the first time he’s ever really touched her.

“I suppose I do,” she says, keeping her cool as usual.

“Growing up, you know, we didn’t have this whole mark thing. I miss that,” he explains, turning Byleth’s hand and looking at her covered palm. “You were expected to make mistakes about who you love before finding the right one… And when there was someone, there was something magical about wondering if they’re meant for you; wondering if they might love you too; wondering where it will go… The people in Fodlan think they’ve been blessed by a goddess. Me? I’d sooner think some super powerful dark mage managed to curse this entire country with this burden.”

Byleth is quiet for a moment, as she tries to process his far-fetched conspiracy theory. She knows he’s partially joking with his reasoning, but there’s still validity to his words. “You might be right,” she utters, then she looks down at her own gloved palm in his hand. “That’s why… you cover your skin?”

He looks at her with seriousness. “Why do _you_?”

She hesitates. Really, she doesn’t know the answer. He must be able to tell because he drops her hand gently back at her side and looks at her seriously, asking her, “Do you think you could fall in love with someone without ever knowing if they’re the one who marks you? If they’re your real, so-called, soulmate?”

Byleth, again, goes quiet… Not because she doesn’t want to answer. But because she’s never even thought about it. And seeing Claude this serious about something she considers so mundane is unusual for her, to say the least.

A still moment passes before the spark in his eyes leaves, and the smile he shows to everyone returns; the one she knows is likely not genuine; the one that doesn't reach his eyes. “It’s been a while since the bell rang. Maybe we should head back,” he says, taking it upon himself to leave first, leaving Byleth swimming in a sea of her own thoughts. Sothis must not be satisfied either.

For the first time, Byleth has a passing thought about if Jeralt knew her mother was his soulmate or not.

* * *

Dimitri looks down at his hand and is reminded of the huge load of homework for the month, as well as training for the week. _LT_, lance training – he started to put things into code to hopefully not rile up any suspicion from the person who, supposedly, gets these markings on them too. He’s not like Sylvain, who sits across from him in the Knights Hall at the small studying table, doodling hearts on his forearm. Except today, he looks quite glum, as do his "hearts", which look more like depressing beets.

Deciding he’s watched his pouting for long enough (and feeling sorry for the boy who has to carry these drawings on him too), Dimitri sighs and sets his homework aside. “Did another one of your skirt-chasing escapades go wrong?” he teases him, but does genuinely worry. “Usually, you’re able to bounce back rather quickly before jumping to your next victim.”

“No, actually,” Sylvain says, not even fazed by the teasing at this point. He looks up and leans on his hand, looking at Dimitri with a hopeless expression. “It’s been no fun lately. All these girls are starting to get more markings on them and I don’t feel like using my usual strategies. Not even the one where I act all surprised when I see their markings and pretend it’s my doing. There’s no… fulfillment anymore.”

“Hold on…” Dimitri starts, actually surprised, “you haven’t been skirt-chasing?”

Sylvain glares at him and turns his attention to the doorway instead. “I think something else has been on my mind,” he says.

Dimitri tries to meet where his gaze turns, but sees only the empty doorway to the Knights Hall. Still, it doesn’t take him long to realize that Sylvain is actually waiting for someone. And Dimitri knows who. “I’m not sure why you came here thinking he would be with me, but…” Dimitri trails off there, not needing to explain why it’s confusing Sylvain would think that in the first place.

“I just don’t get it. I mean, yeah, he _used _to ignore me. He used to hate me! But we had been getting along so well. It was just like when we were kids,” Sylvain pouts, and Dimitri can’t help but smile. It’s true, after all. They were sitting in class together, studying together, and up to their usual antics. Sure, Felix wasn’t following him around in the way he did as a child, but there was a trace of what used to be between them as children. “What happened?” Dimitri wonders aloud.

“Tell me about it!” Sylvain throws his hands up in the air, then sighs and looks at Dimitri, leaning against the table and holding his head in his hands. “All of a sudden, he just…” Sylvain speaks lowly, as if somewhat embarrassed about what transpired between them, “shoved me. Told me to stay away from him and insulted me. I couldn’t even get a word in before he was storming off and I haven’t been able to track him down without him running away. He sits on the opposite side of the room in class now and storms off as soon as it’s over. How annoying…”

Dimitri ponders over this for a moment, then covers his mouth to prevent his smile from being seen. His expression would be too telling should Sylvain see it, and thank Sothis he doesn’t. It’s been clear to Dimitri that Felix realized Sylvain is his soulmate, but he didn’t believe Felix would quite react like that. Though, thinking about it now, it does seem to be in character, making this harder to not chuckle at. These boys…

Sylvain’s eyes wander to Dimitri’s hand still on the table, then he asks, “Are you hoping to find your person?”

Dimitri’s smile fades fast. He clutches his hand into a ball, and hides both of his hands under the table. Clearing his throat, he does his best to sit tall. “This is hardly appropriate timing, especially with the mission this month. I have too much to focus on,” he responds sternly, but it’s obvious that Sylvain doesn’t buy it by the way he raises his eyebrow and frowns at him. But, he must realize there’s no point in digging because he changes the subject and adopts his usual grin.

“Hey, what do you think Dedue’s soulmate is like?”

Dimitri blushes and gives Sylvain a stern look. “That’s not our business,” he tells him, earning a laugh from his red-haired friend. It's a relief to hear that familiar sound.

* * *

“Rhea wants you to join the Blue Lions this month.”

Byleth blinks at Jeralt, opens her mouth to reply, and says… nothing. Of course she knows that professors or house leaders can sometimes request mission assistance from other houses. But Byleth has never been asked. And in all the cases she’s heard of, Lady Rhea has never been the one to request. She wants to ask why, but Jeralt knows her well enough to answer her wordless question.

“I’m not sure what she’s up to,” he says, and she knows it’s honest because he looks just as perplexed as her. “Personally, I think their mission might be a little different. I won’t give too much away but you already suspect there’s an ulterior motive to the potential attackers at the Rite of Rebirth. I think the Blue Lions might be the ones to investigate this closely.”

“But, why me?”

“I’ve been thinking for some time now that Rhea is up to something. And I worry that you’re a part of it,” Jeralt leans down to look his daughter closely in the eyes. “Be careful.”

She inhales deeply and gives a determined nod. He smiles in return. Anything she can do to put him at ease, she will.

_“Why would she request you, specifically? And what are the Blue Lions doing differently this month? I would head Jeralt’s advice if I were you.”_

Byleth nods again in response to Sothis, which seems to confuse Jeralt for a second, but she passes over it. “I have a… thing,” she tells him.

“Of course, of course. The Riegan boy’s birthday. Have fun, kid.”

The dining hall is fully decorated when Byleth arrives through the back doors that Ignatz is guarding in expectancy of Claude’s arrival. The house really came together for this birthday party; it’s a warming thought.

“Oh! There she is!” Hilda exclaims, running over to Byleth. She starts to guide Byleth to the front entrance of the dining hall. “We’ve agreed you should hold the cake for him when he walks in! So he can blow out his candles.”

“Me? Shouldn’t you?”

Raphael, standing guard at the front door chimes in, “We thought you would be best for the job, Byleth! You and Claude are awful close now.”

“It’s true,” Lysithea says, standing on a chair by the wall to finish up the last of the decorations with Lorenz holding the chair in place for her. “Claude would probably like to see you first thing when he walks in.”

Turning around, Byleth sees everyone in agreement with this, getting their last preparations ready. She’s never been embarrassed before, but she certainly thinks this is what it would feel like and… she doesn’t like it. But at the same time, there’s a warm feeling that comes with this. It’s nice to have friends. Especially one like Claude.

She gives a nod to Hilda who smiles gleefully before handing her the cake and lighting all the candles.

“He’s coming from the front!” Raphael suddenly exclaims, closing the doors before running in. Everyone runs into position, hiding behind the tables and chairs in the dining hall, leaving Byleth standing alone at the doors with the hefty cake in her hands.

When the doors open, Claude emerges to hear everyone jump up, screaming “Surprise!” in unison. It definitely seems to work judging by Claude’s expression, but his eyes go straight to Byleth. A smile unlike anything Byleth has ever seen forms on his face. “Aw guys,” he says with pink cheeks, gazing around the room at everyone’s faces, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Of course we did!” Hilda announces, “Now, blow out your candles, leader.”

He walks over to Byleth and meets her gaze, cheeks still pink from the excitement, and smile still brighter than she’s ever seen. “What do you think I should wish for?” he asks her. She shrugs and gives him a small smile, telling him, “Whatever you want to wish for.”

He thinks for only a few seconds before blowing out the candles all in one go. Everyone erupts into applause and throws impressive paper confetti that Lysithea and Hilda spent all night making.

“Happy birthday, Claude,” she tells him. “I was originally just going to take you out for tea.”

When she collapses into bed after celebrating the whole night, she remembers feeling something being written on her skin earlier. Deciding now is a good time to check, she looks down at the top of her hand and sees: _Focus on the mission. _

It sinks in that she won't be with the Golden Deer this month. She better keep this advice in mind too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want more Dimitri and Sylvain friendship in the game, so I'm super indulging with that. The story's about to take a bit of a turn too! So look forward to more Dimitri/Byleth coming up. I am in university and October is a really busy month, but I'm going to try to write in my breaks and make it a priority in my free time. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


End file.
